| You don't have to care about sports to care about her |
| Role model. Hero. Legend. Champion. Pat Summitt was an extraordinary woman, who lived an extraordinary life and touched people in extraordinary ways. She showed that a woman could be tough and unrelenting and powerful — and be rewarded for it. The illustrious coach, who won more games than anyone in college basketball history, man or woman, died Tuesday, five years since being diagnosed with early onset dementia in the form of Alzheimer's at age 59. The disease is relatively rare, affecting about 5% of the 5 million Americans with Alzheimer's disease. There are too many important things to say about Summitt, who she was and what she left behind, so we made this list instead: |
| • | As a young head coach earning $250 a month in the mid-1970s, Summitt personally loaded her players' uniforms into a washing machine after each game because she knew if she didn't do it, no one else would. | | • | She was a proud Tennessean who, when she went into labor while on a recruiting visit, demanded the pilot return to Knoxville so her son could be born in her home state. | | • | Years ago, Courtney Banghart, Princeton women's basketball coach, got caught in one of Orlando's signature flash floods and couldn't find her rental car. Pat Summitt was trailing her in the lot. "Don't you have an umbrella?" she asked. She didn't. "Come here. Get under here with me." | | • | President Obama awarded Summitt the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012, the nation's highest civilian award. His statement on her death: "As Pat once said in recalling her achievements, 'What I see are not the numbers. I see their faces.'" | | • | She never had a losing record in 38 seasons. | | • | She had a 100% graduation rate among her players who completed their athletic eligibility. | | • | She learned to shoot hoops in a barn loft with her brothers, became an All-America basketball player at the University of Tennessee-Martin and won a silver medal on the 1976 U.S. Olympic team. | | • | This is what she said about how to win: "Here's how I'm going to beat you. I'm going to outwork you. That's it. That's all there is to it." | |
| Victim of the Dieselgate scandal? You may be getting a fat check. |
| It doesn't pay to cheat. Volkswagen's learning the hard way. The automaker will pay a $15 billion settlement to make up for cheating on emissions tests, the largest auto-related class-action settlement in U.S. history. In September, we learned VW had put software in 2-liter diesel cars to dodge emissions regulations. Cue dirty vehicles on the road. Now the company will pay just over $10 billion to either buy back or repair those 475,000 vehicles. It'll also dish out payments of $5,100 to $10,000, depending on how old your car is. The rest of the cash is going to its mea culpa: environmental mitigation and research on zero-emissions vehicles. |
| Why we're still talking about Benghazi |
| Two reports. Two very different interpretations of what happened during the September 2012 terror attack in Benghazi, Libya, that claimed four American lives. Recap: The attack, which killed U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens, has been repeatedly cited by Republicans as a serious failure by the Obama administration and by Hillary Clinton, who now is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. The GOP's report out Tuesday blames the deaths on lax security, a slow response and Clinton's political agenda. Democrats, in their competing report, called the GOP version a political effort that revealed no new information and argued Clinton should be absolved. Bottom line: With the fall presidential campaign heating up, don't expect to stop hearing "Benghazi" any time soon. |
| Doping, Zika, hackers. Welcome to Rio. |
| Excitement for the upcoming Rio de Janeiro Olympics is building. But the same can be said for the drama surrounding it. The Games' chief organizer, Sidney Levy, has cited security as his No. 1 concern. As for the Zika virus? It only cracks his top 10. But a slew of U.S. athletes have bowed out from competing because of it, with golfer Jason Day joining their ranks Tuesday. Meanwhile, some Russian and Kenyan athletes are at risk of being banned from competing altogether due to doping controversies. Then there's the whole dirty water thing (though U.S. rowers have these snazzy new suits to help with that). And if all of that weren't enough, U.S. intelligence officials also advise Americans traveling to Argentina to be wary of hacking. But things will get better before the Aug. 5 opening ceremony, right? Rio's governor isn't so sure. He warned Monday that the Games could be a "big failure." Very reassuring. |
| IKEA's fatal recall |
| If you have a toddler, listen up. IKEA has issued a recall on 29 million dressers after they resulted in the deaths of three children from 2014 to 2016. If you have one of these models and they're not anchored to the wall, stop using them immediately: MALM 3-drawer dresser, MALM 4-drawer dresser, MALM 5-drawer dresser, and three types of MALM 6-drawer dressers. A list of non-MALM furniture affected by this recall can be found here. If you own one of the recalled dressers or chests that was manufactured between January 2002 and January 2016, you can get a full refund. IKEA is also offering free wall-anchoring repair kits and a one-time free in-home installation service upon request. |
| Extra Bites |
| This is what you're reading today: |
| Ancient trove of silver unearthed in Scotland |
| Police: Mom who killed daughters called 'family meeting' before shooting |
| Red Cross apologizes for 'racist' pool safety poster |
| Other things: |
| The pros and cons of a Clinton-Warren ticket. |
| Stephen Hawking says we're greedy, stupid and the greatest threat to Earth. Happy Tuesday. |
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| This is a compilation of stories across USA TODAY. |
| Contributing: The Associated Press |
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